A ROAD was closed and a cordon put in place after a chemical leak at an engineering company in Lakeside, Redditch.

The incident happened just after 6pm on Sunday night.

Concerned residents living near Samuel Taylor Ltd in Arthur Street had reported the incident, which involved a leak of liquid nitrogen from a large tank at the premises. Two fire crews attended along with a Hazmat (Hazardous Materials) officer, the Incident Response Unit from Droitwich and the Environmental Protection Unit from Stourport. Police also attended.

Station commander Steve Fox from Hereford & Worcester Fire and Rescue Service said: “We arrived to find a large liquid nitrogen tank venting at the base, with the liquefied gas producing a fog or vapour cloud in the cold night air.

“We liaised closely with the owners of the factory as we assessed the level of risk, and set up a road closure and a cordon around the premises as a precautionary measure.

“We also used information directly from specialist manuals at the premises before sending firefighters in breathing apparatus into the building to isolate the leak.”

He confirmed that there were no injuries and no one evacuated, and that once the isolation valve on the gas storage tank had been closed, the incident was passed in to the hands of a specialist engineer from the company.